Delivery system and method for uniform display of supplemental content

Abstract

A system of the present invention receives and stores supplemental content for display to an end user upon request. The supplemental content ( 450 ) corresponds to a known digital content substrate ( 410 ). A unique identifier can be determined via a checksum procedure to identify the known digital content substrate ( 410 ). A software routine ( 404 ) then assesses an item presented to an end user for display. A candidate identifier can be determined for the display item and matched to the stored unique identifier to identify the display item as the known digital content substrate ( 410 ). An interactive indicator symbol ( 414 ) can signify availability of supplemental content ( 450 ), and uniformly formatted supplemental content ( 450 ) can be displayed in a substantially instantaneous manner in response to the user interacting with the interactive indicator symbol ( 414 ).

1 . A method for delivering supplemental content to an end user on a data communications network, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) selecting a digital content substrate for presentation to an end user over a data communications network;    (b) determining a unique identifier for the digital content substrate;    (c) associating supplemental content with the unique identifier;    (d) detecting the unique identifier upon presentation of the digital content substrate to the end user;    (e) responsive to the detection of the unique identifier, providing the end user an interactive indicator tendering the supplemental content; and    (f) responsive to the end user selecting the interactive indicator, delivering the supplemental content to the end user.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein steps (d)-(f) are implemented by a software routine provided to the end user.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the software routine is provided to the end user over the data communications network by a remote server.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the software routine is embodied in a plug-in program.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the software routine is embedded in the digital content substrate presented to the end user.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supplemental content is specified by an originator of the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supplemental content is formatted into a standardized display panel.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the supplemental content is formatted through a graphical user interface.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein: 
 the presentation of the digital content substrate includes displaying the digital content substrate to the end user; and    the delivering of the supplemental content formatted into the standardized display panel includes displaying the standardized display panel positioned proximate to the display of the digital content substrate.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the displayed standardized display panel is positioned adjacent to the displayed digital content substrate so as to approximate a contiguous display.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising at least one module for formatting the supplemental content.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one module provides predetermined functionality.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting the unique identifier includes: 
 monitoring data transmitted to the end user over the data communications network, the data including a bit sequence representing the digital content substrate;    determining a candidate unique identifier by applying a checksum procedure to the bit sequence; and    matching the candidate unique identifier to the unique identifier determined for the digital content substrate.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said providing the interactive indicator includes displaying an unobtrusive symbol atop the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the unobtrusive symbol is displayed intermittently to mitigate occlusion of the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of: 
 responsive to the detection of the unique identifier, transparently storing the supplemental content in a memory storage location for a display system of the end user; and    wherein said delivering the supplemental content includes reading the supplemental content from the memory storage location and displaying the supplemental content via the display system.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the memory storage location comprises cache memory.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the step of associating an expiration date with the supplemental content stored in the memory storage location.  
     
     
         20 . A method for providing on-demand display of supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate, the method comprising the steps of: 
 assembling supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate;    identifying the digital content substrate from among one or more display elements on a display of an electronic device;    displaying an indicator symbol atop the digital content substrate to indicate an availability of the supplemental content; and    displaying the supplemental content responsive to a user input associated with the indicator symbol.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said displaying an indicator symbol does not alter the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the indicator symbol is displayed in a transparent display window overlaying the digital content substrate on the display of the electronic device.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the display of the electronic device includes a Web browser program and the transparent display window is a DHTML layer.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the display of the electronic device includes a Web browser program and the transparent display window is a new instantiation of a browser window by the Web browser program.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the supplemental content is provided by an originator of the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said distinguishing the digital content substrate among the one or more display elements includes: 
 determining a digital fingerprint for each of the one or more display elements; and    comparing each determined digital fingerprint to a predetermined digital fingerprint for the digital content substrate.    
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the indicator symbol is intermittently displayed so as not to occlude the digital content substrate.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said assembling supplemental content includes formatting the supplemental content into a predetermined display template.  
     
     
         29 . A method for uniformly displaying, via an electronic device, formatted content gathered from a plurality of disparate sources, the formatted content supplementing a plurality of digital content substrates, the method comprising the steps of: 
 selecting a plurality of digital content substrates;    determining a unique identifier for each of the plurality of digital content substrates;    providing an interface for gathering supplemental content corresponding to each of the digital content substrates and formatting the corresponding supplemental content into a corresponding plurality of content display panels, each content display panel employing to a standard display format;    providing a software routine to an electronic device for, upon the delivery of one or more of the digital content substrates to the electronic device for display: 
 identifying the one or more digital content substrates by detecting the corresponding unique identifier;  
 displaying an indicator symbol atop each of the identified one or more digital content substrates, the indicator symbol indicating availability of the corresponding one or more content display panels;  
 responsive to the selection of the indicator symbol displayed atop a first digital content substrate, displaying a first content display panel corresponding to the first digital content substrate.  
   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the indicator symbol is intermittently viewable so as not to occlude the one or more digital content substrates displayed by the electronic device.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the indicator symbol is displayed without altering the one or more digital content substrate.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the supplemental content for each content display panel is supplied by an entity supplying each corresponding digital content substrate.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising the step of allowing the supplying entity to periodically update the supplemental content.  
     
     
         35 . A system for delivering supplemental display content to an end user on a data communications network, the system comprising: 
 a primary content sever providing a displayed digital content substrate to an electronic display device of an end user;    a supplemental content server storing: 
 a known unique identifier representing a known digital content substrate; and  
 supplemental content corresponding to the known digital content substrate;  
   a software routine for comparing a candidate identifier, representing a graphic element on the electronic display device, to the known unique identifier, representing the known digital content substrate; and    an interactive indicator displayed atop the displayed digital content substrate in response to a favorable comparison of the candidate identifier and the known unique identifier, the interactive indicator for indicating an availability of the supplemental content, receiving a request from the end user to display the supplemental content, and, in response to the request, displaying the supplemental content.    
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the interactive indicator is intermittently viewable so as to mitigate occlusion of the displayed digital content substrate.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein: 
 the displayed digital content substrate is displayed in a first display layer on the electronic device; and    the interactive indicator is displayed in a second display layer of the electronic device, the second display layer overlaying the first display layer.    
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the digital content substrate is chosen from a group consisting of: a banner advertisement, a computer graphic, a Web site, a URL, a browser display screen, a streaming audio/video display, an e-mail message, a computer application display, and an iTV display.  
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the digital fingerprint is a 64-bit checksum result.  
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 40 , wherein the digital content substrate comprises insufficiently few bits for the 64-bit checksum result, and the digital fingerprint is created by repeating and concatenating the insufficiently few bits until sufficient bits are available for the 64-bit checksum result.  
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the known digital content substrate and the supplemental content are from a same source.  
     
     
         43 . An electronic networking device software routine for displaying supplemental content corresponding to a digital content substrate, the routine comprising: 
 a first subroutine for identifying a unique identifier of a displayed digital content substrate;    a second subroutine for comparing the unique identifier to a stored unique identifier, the stored unique identifier representing a known digital content substrate having corresponding supplemental content; and    a third subroutine for displaying an interactive indicator symbol atop the displayed digital content substrate, detecting a user interaction with the interactive indicator, and, in response to the detected interaction, displaying the supplemental content.    
     
     
         44 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as a plug-in.  
     
     
         45 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as an interpreted script.  
     
     
         46 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as a JavaScript.  
     
     
         47 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the software routine is delivered to an end user as code embedded in the displayed digital content substrate.  
     
     
         48 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the third subroutine displays the interactive indicator symbol intermittently at a predetermined frequency.  
     
     
         49 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the supplemental content is displayed adjacent the displayed digital content substrate.  
     
     
         50 . The software routine of  claim 49 , wherein: 
 the displayed digital content substrate is displayed in a first display layer; and    the interactive indicator symbol and the supplemental content are displayed in a second display layer overlaying the first display layer.    
     
     
         51 . The software routine of  claim 43 , wherein the unique identifier is a digital fingerprint.